Today I stumbled upon this website. The guy on the site made a poster with the book covers to every book he's ever read, depicting 750 books in all. What a cool project!

He first organized all of his books through the website LibraryThing, which is an online program that can help you catalog your personal book collection. He also asked his friends and family to help him remember titles of books that he may have forgotten, since he included books from his childhood. A tool that he doesn't mention is the database NoveList, which you can access
on the "Research Online" portion of our website under "Books, Literature & Reading." If you remember parts of a plot, but can't remember the book, you can do a keyword search. For example, if you fondly recall a book about a monkey flying a kite, you might find H.A. Rey's Curious George Flies a Kite (SPOILER ALERT: this is my favorite one because George gets a baby bunny at the end).

Each year, teen librarians in the American Library Association select ten books to receive Alex Awards. What are the Alex Awards, you ask?

The Alex Awards were first given annually beginning in 1998, and became an official ALA award in 2002.The Alex Awards are given to ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through 18. The winning titles are selected from the previous year's publishing.The award is sponsored by the Margaret Alexander Edwards Trust. Edwards was a young adult specialist for many years at the Enoch Pratt Library in Baltimore. Her work is described in her book Fair Garden and the Swarm of Beasts, and over the years she has served as an inspiration to librarians who serve young adults. The Alex Awards are named after Edwards, who was called “Alex” by her friends.

This year's winning titles are:

* The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
* The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig.
* Eagle Blue: A Team, A Tribe, and A High School Basketball Season in Arctic Alaska by Michael D'Orso.
* Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen.
* Color of the Sea by John Hamamura.
* Floor of the Sky by Pamela Carter Joern.
* The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis.
* Black Swan Green by David Mitchell.
* The World Made Straight by Ron Rash.
* The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield.

I have made a display of the 2005, 2006 and 2007 Alex Awards winners in the Teen section. Check it out!

And, in case you missed it, Greg Galloway, author of the 2006 Alex Award-winning novel As Simple As Snow will be here in March!

Westport Library favorite Ann Brashares has just published the final installment in the Travelling Pants series: Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood . A recent article in the New York Times quotes "[Brashares] decided to end the ''Traveling Pants'' series with the latest book, ensuring through a plot twist that the series cannot be revived (though ''it's not like I kill off any of the characters,'' she said)." *

I haven't read the book yet, so I am excited to find out what the plot twist will be! Does Lena move to Greece forever? Does Tibby turn into a guinea pig? Does Bridget marry David Beckham? The library has three copies: reserve yours today! You can also visit the official Sisterhood website to sign up for the newsletter, get author info, and learn more about the series.

* To read the full article, visit our ICONN Newstand database and search for the title "Art Above and Below, With Life in the Middle" from the January 4th New York Times.

The Golden Globes were on last night and although I didn't end up watching them (I Love New York was on- cut me some slack!) I did notice that Sacha Baron Cohen won for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture- Musical or Comedy. Niiiiiiiice. Given the fact that I saw Borat three times, this makes me very happy! For a complete list of winners, visit the Golden Globes website. And if you like to see the worst in red carpet fashion, be sure to check out Go Fug Yourself, one of my favorite blogs.

As I've mentioned in this blog before, I am totally obsessed with Greg Galloway's As Simple As Snow. I've tried to get everybody I know to read it. I need people to discuss it with, since the book is about a mystery that is never solved. And guess what? Greg Galloway is coming to the Westport Library on Monday, March 26th!!! I am so excited! In the meantime, I've ordered extra copies of the book so that everybody else can read it. Also, be sure to check out the book's website, where you can learn more about the book and even have clues e-mailed to you on a weekly basis! More details to come as the event draws nearer.

The library was PACKED on Wednesday night with students frantically studying for midterm exams! Good luck everybody and keep coming back for study space! Thanks to everybody who let me give them the paparazzi treatment :)

As you know, Midterms take place next week at Staples High School. In order to make your study time more enjoyable (if this is possible…), I have reserved the McManus Room and Seminar Room for you Monday-Thursday evenings next week. There will be areas for quiet study as well as group study. The library will provide snacks and soda and I will be around with my trusty laptop, should you need help. Spread the word and bring your friends.

I was getting disappointed that the library wasn't compiling our opinions for a Best of 2006 list but then it suddently dawned on me that I HAVE A BLOG. Now I can do my own list. WOOH! Feel free to e-mail me your own personal favorites and I can publish them here. This is your way to kind of be famous!

**********Jaina's Best of 2006**********

Favorite Book for Young Adults: Looking for Alaska by John Green

Favorite Book in General: I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence by Amy Sedaris

Favorite Network TV Show: NBC's The Office

Favorite Cable TV Show: Cartoon Network's Tom Goes to the Mayor

Favorite Reality Show: VH1's Flavor of Love (this is a no-brainer!)

Favorite Movie: Borat (another no-brainer... I've actually seen it three times!)

Favorite Album: The Isles' Perfumed Lands (note: if you're interested in what real rock critics thought, check out Pitchfork's list)

Favorite Pop Song: TIE: "SexyBack" by Justin Timberlake and "Maneater" by Nelly Furtado

Favorite Condiment: Sriracha Sauce

Favorite Famous Person: Amy Sedaris

Favorite Time-Waster: THREE WAY TIE: YouTube, Guitar Hero for Playstation 2, and MTV's My Super Sweet 16

First, I would like to apologize for my prolonged absence. I am back at work now and ready to blog like crazy. Since I'm still catching up from being gone, there will be no meetings for the Teen Advisory Groups this month. However, I will be hosting a night of Guitar Hero in the McManus Room tomorrow night, Wednesday, January 3rd at 7PM. Bring your friends and your urge to rock. I received a second controller as a gift, so now we can play on multiplayer mode!! Snacks and good times will be provided. If you have any questions, you can e-mail me. Hope to see you there!